March 17, 2008

Everyone is self employed: Your career is your BUSINESS.

Are you a jobseeker? Are you happily employed - or grudging and trudging to work five days a week? Are you a business owner or considering starting or buying a business? Are you embarking on a retirement career?

Whoever you are, and wherever you are in the workforce, you are the CEO of your career.

At all times, you must manage and promote your brand and develop and market your product: YOU.

How do you do that?

Are you a jobseeker? Are you happily employed - or grudging and trudging to work five days a week? Are you a business owner or considering starting or buying a business? Are you embarking on a retirement career?

Whoever you are, and wherever you are in the workforce, you are the CEO of your career.

At all times, you must manage and promote your brand and develop and market your product: YOU.

How do you do that?

Straighten your posture, take a deep breath, and say, "I'm in charge."

Ask yourself:

Who am I?

Where do I want to go from here?

How do I get there?

If you need help with 1 and 2, you'll need a career coach who can help you recognize your skills, strengths, qualities, interests, values, vision, and passions - and decide “what you want to be when you grow up” - at age 17 or 77.

You and your coach can then explore the job market, research companies, and develop your targets, strategy, and action plan.

Your brand and marketing communications are crucial to your success:

Do you have a brand? (Hint: Yes.)

Do you have a professional resume that clearly and concisely conveys your brand, your value proposition, and your energy - while painting a coherent picture of you and your career?

Do you have an online identity?

As your marketing partner, your career coach will help you to get in touch with your personal-professional brand, develop your professional resume, and build your online presence.

Whether you’re a jobseeker or already employed, everyone in the workforce needs a clear career path along with quality self-marketing tools in today’s highly competitive, global marketplace - where one of our critical first choices is to be distinct or to be extinct.

Is it "all about you"? Yes and no:

Your career coach is all about helping you build confidence and make productive choices.

It’s all about what you like to do, what you want to do, what you’re passionate about, how much money you need to make, how much time you want to spend, where and how you want to live, how you can and will contribute … COMBINED WITH what’s best for your internal and external customers.

As CEO of your career, who are your customers? These include your boss, your peers, your subordinates, your employer organization, and its clientele ... as well as your family and your community.

It’s not complicated: know yourself, know your brand, know your value, know what you want, know what your customers want and how you can deliver, take charge … and always “do the right thing.”

Judy Smyer, CDF, CPRWSpecializing in the development of executive-level professional resumesYou're the CEO of your career, and I'm your marketing partner.